Attorney says Giuliani ‘secreted away’ his property from poll workers who won $148M judgment
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(NEW YORK) — On Election Day 2024, Rudy Giuliani cannot escape the consequences of his defamation of two Georgia poll workers in the aftermath of Election Day 2020.
A federal judge on Tuesday ordered the former New York City mayor to appear in court later in the week to explain why he allegedly “secreted away” his property and failed to transfer anything into the custody of former election workers Ruby Freeman and Shay Moss, as he was ordered to do last month to fulfill a $148 million judgment.
A judge last year found that Giuliani had defamed the mother and daughter when he falsely accused them of committing election fraud while they were counting ballots in Georgia’s Fulton County on Election Day in 2020.
Two weeks ago, Giuliani was ordered to transfer personal property “including cash accounts, jewelry and valuables, a legal claim for unpaid attorneys’ fees, and his interest in his Madison Avenue co-op apartment” to Freeman and Moss as part of the judgment.
When the receivership controlled by the two election workers was finally granted access to Giuliani’s Manhattan apartment, they discovered Giuliani “had moved virtually all of its contents out approximately four weeks ago–something that neither Defendant nor Defendant’s counsel had bothered to mention,” the poll workers’ attorney, Aaron Nathan, said in a letter to the court.
“Defendant nor his counsel thought to mention that the receivership property contained in the Apartment had been secreted away,” Nathan said in the letter.
“More concerningly,” the attorney told the judge, “Defendant and his counsel have refused or been unable to answer basic questions about the location of most of the property subject to the receivership.”
“Save for some rugs, a dining room table, some stray pieces of small furniture and inexpensive wall art, and a handful of smaller items like dishes and stereo equipment, the Apartment has been emptied of all of its contents,” Nathan’s letter said. “Notably, that includes the vast majority (if not all) of the valuable receivership property that was known to be stored there, including art, sports memorabilia, expensive furniture, and other items not conspicuous enough to appear in listing photographs.”
When the receivers asked Giuliani’s representatives where the items are located, Nathan said those inquiries were “met predominantly with evasion or silence.”
A spokesperson for Giuliani said in response that “Mayor Giuliani has made available his property and possessions as ordered.”
“A few items were put into storage over the course of the past year, and anything else removed was related to his two livestream programs that stream each and every weeknight across his social media platforms,” the spokesperson said. “Opposing counsel, acting either negligently or deliberately in a deceptive manner, are simply attempting to further bully and intimidate Mayor Giuliani until he is rendered penniless and homeless.”
Giuliani is scheduled to appear in court this Thursday afternoon.
His lawyer had asked if Giuliani could appear by phone since he was scheduled to appear on a live radio broadcast at that time, but the judge would not allow it.
(WASHINGTON, D.C.) Special counsel Jack Smith is urging the judge overseeing former President Donald Trump’s federal election interference case to reject an effort by Trump’s attorneys to throw out obstruction-related charges brought against him following a Supreme Court ruling this summer that narrowed the statute’s use against Jan. 6 rioters.
Trump’s attorneys have argued that the obstruction of an official proceeding statute should no longer apply to Trump’s alleged conduct in the indictment against him, arguing that Trump was never directly involved in obstructing the Jan. 6 vote-certification proceedings.
But Smith, in his new filing, said his recent superseding indictment clearly alleges Trump and his co-conspirators’ involvement in attempting to send fraudulent certificates to Congress that day, for then-Vice President Mike Pence to use as he presided over the certification.
“As set forth in the superseding indictment, the defendant and others began in early December 2020 to cause individuals to serve as the defendant’s purported electors in several targeted states with the intent that those individuals ‘make and send to the Vice President and Congress false certifications that they were legitimate electors,'” Smith wrote.
“Ultimately, the defendant sought” to “certify illegal votes” through “fraudulent elector certificates” that were “mailed to the President of the Senate, the Archivist of the United States, and others in connection with the January 6 proceeding to certify the 2020 presidential election results,” wrote Smith.
Trump last year pleaded not guilty to federal charges of undertaking a “criminal scheme” to overturn the results of the 2020 election in order to remain in power. In July, the Supreme Court ruled in a blockbuster decision that Trump is entitled to immunity from criminal prosecution for official acts undertaken while in office.
Smith subsequently charged Trump in a superseding indictment that was adjusted to respect the Supreme Court’s ruling.
In his new filing, Smith also disputed arguments put forward by Trump’s attorneys that the former president “bears no factual or legal responsibility” for the Jan. 6 Capitol attack.
The superseding indictment “plainly alleges that the defendant willfully caused his supporters to obstruct and attempt to obstruct the proceeding by summoning them to Washington, D.C., and then directing them to march to the Capitol to pressure the Vice President and legislators to reject the legitimate certificates and instead rely on the fraudulent electoral certificates,” Smith wrote.
(NEW YORK) — Even before the pandemic took hold in 2020, Americans drifted away from their social circles, dedicating more and more time to solitary activities. This shift has deepened feelings of social isolation, leaving many individuals longing for connections and companionship that once felt more accessible.
Approximately 20% of American adults are grappling with “daily loneliness,” according to a recent Gallup report, marking the highest level in two years. The U.S. Surgeon General, often referred to as the “Nation’s Doctor,” declared that we are currently facing a serious loneliness epidemic. They also stated that Generation Z — those born from the mid-1990s to the early 2010s — might be the loneliest generation.
Chronic loneliness — prolonged feelings of loneliness and social isolation — affects not only your mental health but also has physical consequences.
“It can do everything from increase rates of high blood pressure, heart disease, increased rates of dementia, and actually decrease how long we live,” Dr. Kelli Harding, an assistant professor of psychiatry at Columbia University Medical Center, told “Nightline.”. “It’s as risky for health as, you know, smoking 15 cigarettes a day.”
To combat the loneliness epidemic, professional cuddlers like Jasmine Siemon from Bethesda, Maryland, are leading the way. She uses platonic touch therapy to assist adults dealing with issues such as intimacy, anxiety and loneliness.
Siemon told “Nightline” she always does a consultation to see what made the person interested in touch and cuddle therapy.
“I want to know what their touch history is. There’s a clear understanding of having agency over your body in the session,” she said. “At no point am I going to touch you in a way that you’re not comfortable with or that you’re not curious about, and vice versa. So the boundaries are the rigid boundaries — no touching anywhere a bathing suit covers.”
Siemon acknowledged that while her job may sound unusual to some, she has seen how her work has helped people like Elliot Wallace, who has been having cuddle therapy sessions with Siemon for a year.
“I found myself being nervous in certain cases, whether people were very close, like moving in too close or taking up my space or even being touched,” Wallace said. “And I wanted to find a way to not have that [be] threatening anymore.”
Since Wallace works a lot from home, he says it makes it harder for him to meet people. He sought out Siemon to help him discover who he is, so he can be more open and vulnerable with people.
While Siemon says she has seen how her work has helped some people, consulting a professional cuddler may not suit everyone. Experts warn that if cuddle therapy ends suddenly, it can lead to feelings of abandonment, rejection, loss and even despair.
Professional cuddlers are just one option for coping with loneliness, which can manifest in various ways. Kaari Hostler, a recent college graduate who has moved from the Midwest to New York City, hopes to connect with others, but the 22-year-old isn’t seeking love or romance. Instead, she’s looking to make friends.
Hostler was searching for ways to branch out when she came across “The Girls NYC” online. It’s an exclusive social group for women looking to make friends in their early 20s in New York City.
When attending these events, there is one important rule: you must come alone. Similar groups focusing on finding connections, like dinner parties and running clubs, are rising across the U.S.
“We spend so much time online, we end up isolating ourselves,” Hostler said. “It’s not a substitute for actual human interaction.”
Through social media, people can connect and game with others across continents. TikTok trends like “Get Ready With Me” videos — which show the process of someone getting ready for an event or activity — can help you feel connected to your favorite influencers. There are also dating and friendship apps.
However, these are remote and experts say may not be a good substitute for actual human interaction.
“Gen Z has had it tough,” Dr. Harding said. “They didn’t have a traditional graduation from high school. They have also been part of this great experiment of social media we are learning without guardrails.”
Like Hostler, 38-year-old Quincy Winston struggled to make new friends after relocating to Phoenix with his wife, Latoya, in 2015.
However, a heartfelt conversation with his wife sparked an idea.
“Her girlfriends are very organized, very tight knit,” said Winston. “A lot of my friends at the time were distant,” adding his wife told him that “it’s important for men to seek out friendship and build camaraderie.”
In 2022, Winston formed the Phoenix Professional Black Men’s Friends Group, a space for men to meet locally and find new friends.
“So for me, it’s been a self-discovery,” Winston said. “It’s been a journey. I’ll thank my wife every day for kind of opening up about my own emotions and encouraging other men to support other men.”
Winston’s group now has nearly 200 members, and helps men connect with something he says some men may struggle with.
“I think there’s a term out there,” Winston said. “Emotional intelligence — guys, you have to work at that. What do I need to do in order to be a friend and make friends and have friends and keep friends?”
Experts say loneliness does not discriminate, and could happen to anyone at any age.
At the New Ground Estate in London, 26 residents are making history — living at the first and only co-housing community in the United Kingdom dedicated to women aged 50 and over.
Some have likened this housing situation to a real-life version of “The Golden Girls,” the TV show that followed four older women living together in Miami.
“It is really beneficial because there’s that sense of community,” Dr. Harding said. “I think it can also reframe how we think about aging.”
Everyone at New Ground has their own flats but there are also communal living spaces — all run by the ladies themselves.
Jude Tisdall is 73 years old and moved into the community in 2018.
“There’s a few people here who are of a certain age and are inspirational and are fit and still active and doing things,” Tisdall said. “I think that has made me really, really think about is I’m going to live to the nth degree till I die. And that’s what I’ve got to do.”
Kelsey Klimara, Arturo Ruiz, Sabrina Shanghie and Caroline Kucera contributed to this report.
(NASHVILLE, TN.) — One person is dead, and nine others are shot and injured after gunfire erupted during homecoming celebration events for Tennessee State University, Nashville Police Department officials said.
Of the nine injured, three were juveniles ranging in age from 12-14 years old, and all are in non-critical condition at a local hospital, MNPD Public Affairs Director Don Aaron said.
Shortly after 5 p.m., an exchange of gunfire occurred between two groups of people. Officials said it was likely that innocent bystanders were shot during the incident. A total of ten people were shot, with one person, a 24-year-old, succumbing to their injuries.
Five people were transported to local hospitals via ambulance. Five others were transported by private vehicle, Metro Nashville Police Department Public Affairs Officer Brooke Reese said.
Officials believe that some of those injured and hospitalized were involved and are suspected of being involved in the gunfire, said Reese.
Injuries range from minor to critical condition, with some sustaining graze wounds, said Aaron.
One gun, a handgun, was recovered at the scene, he said. Officials believe that the suspects used handguns in the shooting.
Fire and police officials were already at the event to participate in the homecoming parade earlier today, authorities said. Some personnel were already at the scene when gunfire erupted, and used their belts to apply tourniquets to gunshot victims, Nashville Fire Department PIO Kendra Loney said.
Most people celebrating homecoming went to the Tennessee State University football game, which is being held at Nissan Stadium, Nashville North Precinct Commander Anthony McClain said. During the day, there was a large group of people gathered for the parade.
When the gunfire began about two hours ago during the event, “a few folks ruined it for everybody,” McClain said.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
